That's a pretty damn nice team. I feel terrible for the Pirates fans. This is absurd.

They didn't give away Sanchez by any stretch of the imagination. Most people think the Pirates won that trade easily.

And half these guys are fringe players. LaRoche is plain terrible.

chisox616

07-30-2009, 03:22 PM

Trading McLouth was another great move; freed up room for that guy McCutchen who's tearing up the place. McLouth was pretty overrated.

Also, most people think they won the Nyjer trade as well; Milledge is much younger and has a higher ceiling, plus Morgan was probably way over performing.

On top of the Sanchez trade, they haven't been all that disastrous actually.

soxfanreggie

07-30-2009, 03:23 PM

If you don't have a pitching staff to go with the players, it doesn't help either.

35th and Shields

07-30-2009, 03:30 PM

So let me get this straight, you guys think the Pirates have made the right decisions by trading these guys? :?:

Marqhead

07-30-2009, 03:33 PM

If you don't have a pitching staff to go with the players, it doesn't help either.

We have a winner.

Oliver Perez couldn't put it together. Duke has been wildly inconsistent. Gorzelanny fell off the face of the earth.

They have a decent bullpen with Capps, Grabow etc. but the pitching just hasn't been there.

Big D

07-30-2009, 03:34 PM

So let me get this straight, you guys think the Pirates have made the right decisions by trading these guys? :?:

Depends on how good the prospects they got in return end up becoming. They were losing 95 games a year with those guys, though, so it's not like they were breaking up the core of a contender.

35th and Shields

07-30-2009, 03:40 PM

Depends on how good the prospects they got in return end up becoming. They were losing 95 games a year with those guys, though, so it's not like they were breaking up the core of a contender.

I'm considering if they had all those guys in the lineup at the same time.

soxfanreggie

07-30-2009, 03:48 PM

Never said that I was in favor of all of those trades; however, you can have a great line-up, but if you score 5 runs a game and give up 6, you still lose.

Big D

07-30-2009, 03:52 PM

I'm considering if they had all those guys in the lineup at the same time.

They did have all of them other than Ramirez and Giles in the lineup at the same time, and they still lost 95 games a year. A lot of those guys aren't really that great to begin with. Somebody like McLouth was an "All-Star" only because the Pirates have to have at least one All-Star every year. LaRoche isn't even an everyday player now that he's on a good team like Boston. As has been pointed out, they had no pitching whatsoever. They obviously have no money so they can't sign free agents, and their farm system was a complete disaster when the new GM took over, so the only way they could get pitching was to trade away some of their hitters. Who knows if it will work out, but they weren't going anywhere with what they had. The test will be if they can somehow start contending in 4-5 years, will they lock up their good young players to contract extensions, or will they be cheap? We don't know, since they haven't come close to contending in 17 years.

MarkZ35

07-30-2009, 04:05 PM

They have been great at developing young hitters but like pointed before their pitching was terrible. They consistently had young pitchers that were ok at best. A lot has to go right for smaller budgeted teams and a pitching has to be respected before most of that can happen.

Banix12

07-30-2009, 05:35 PM

Best pitchers they've lost since 2003

Kris Benson
Kip Wells
Jeff Suppan
Oliver Perez
Ian Snell

Then just for fun let's throw in Josh Fogg and Mark Redman. And don't forget 2003 all star closer Mike Williams, with his 6+ ERA in what turned out to be his last MLB season.

palehozenychicty

07-30-2009, 05:44 PM

Best pitchers they've lost since 2003

Kris Benson
Kip Wells
Jeff Suppan
Oliver Perez
Ian Snell

Then just for fun let's throw in Josh Fogg and Mark Redman. And don't forget 2003 all star closer Mike Williams, with his 6+ ERA in what turned out to be his last MLB season.